My Everything
by Luisa
Summary: Set 5 years after Chosen - Buffy and Giles have been together a year and Giles has something special to show her


Title: My Everything Author: Luisa Email: leyjd@hotmail.com Pairing: B/G Rating: G Distribution: Dword, Kattie, Dee, TL... all the usual archives. Anyone else who wants it, just let me know where! Summary: Set 5 years after "Chosen"... Buffy and Giles have been together a year... and Giles decides to do something special to celebrate... Spoilers: mild Chosen - but assuming that Sunnydale didn't disappear into a crater :) Disclaimer: Not mine although I wish they were. All I own is an overactive imagination. Buffy, Giles and anything else from the BuffyVerse belongs to Joss. Feedback: As always... DEFINITELY! Notes: *Emphasis* [Thoughts] ~~lyrics~~ Thanks: Ness for the quick beta - that was just what I needed! [And you*do* do a good job, for what it's worth :)]  
  
Dedication: to the memory of Barry White... may his spirit live in through his songs forever. Posted: 05.07.03  
  
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A year. Buffy Summers sighed dramatically as she drew a brush through her blonde hair. They'd been together a year today. After five long years they were finally free to have a relationship where they needn't fear each other's death, yet they still danced hesitantly around one another with painfully slow steps. It wasn't that they weren't in love... they just... she couldn't put a finger on what felt "off" about her relationship with Rupert Giles. [I mean... he's told me he loves me... and at least he didn't leave me within seconds of telling me so... but...] she heaved a heavy sigh again... [I just don't get men. Either they only want sex, or they want to "take things slowly". Can't I ever have a normal relationship?] She pinned back the cluster of hair she'd been brushing and paused in her thoughts as she turned to survey her appearance in the mirror.  
  
[Not bad...]  
  
The frown left her face, giving way to a soft smile as she anticipated her lover's reaction to her attire. The dress itself had been *way* too expensive, but then, she reasoned, at least she could wear it next year when she gave Dawn away. The smile transformed unexpectedly into a laugh. Now *that* had been an unlikely relationship. Dawn and Xander. Never in a million years would she have predicted that. But at least they were happy. The frown reappeared as the thoughts of her sister's marriage to her best friend automatically turned to fears of her future. Would Giles ever ask her to marry him? Or did he think that he would always be too old; that they had missed their chance?  
  
Her thoughts were spared from progressing into depression as the man himself appeared in the doorway.  
  
"Buffy..." his voice barely a whisper, he crossed the threshold to gather her into his arms. "You..." he fought to keep his voice from breaking, "You are an absolute vision."  
  
The silver shimmer of the dress made her look like she was clothed in starlight, the elegant cut bringing a sophistication he rarely saw to her usually youthful looks. Giles released Buffy for a moment to gaze in rapture at her again, before clutching her briefly to him once more and pressing a lingering kiss to her cheek. After several moments, he drew back.  
  
"I have something I want to show you before we leave."  
  
Buffy raised questioning eyes to meet his still-sparkling ones. His expression gave nothing away as she silently submitted, placing her hand in his. Neither of them spoke as Buffy followed his lead down the corridor and stairway of the Summers' residence.  
  
"Now, close your eyes," Giles softly commanded as they reached the foot of the stairs.  
  
"But, our reservations..."  
  
"No 'buts', Buffy, Love. We'll be fine for time. Now, please, for once, just close your beautiful eyes."  
  
She couldn't help but smile in response and obediently closed them, letting him lead her to the living room.  
  
"Now... open them."  
  
It was with a gasp that she did, tears springing unexpectedly to nestle there.  
  
"Oh my... Giles..." She sniffled a little, hoping to contain the tears that now threatened to spill over. She prodded him teasingly, "Don't make me redo my make-up, Mister." A hiccup punctuated her sentence as she still tried to absorb the transformation she beheld.  
  
Gone were the sofas that had lived in this room ever since her mother had purchased it. Gone was the dining set at the far end of the room. Even the carpet was no more. Instead she saw a large fur rug settled on a wooden floor in front of the hearth, where the embers of a fire glowed steadily. Every other surface was thoroughly bedecked by candles. A lump rose in her throat as she returned her gaze to the Englishman beside her. All of a sudden the future didn't seem to matter quite as much as it had only moments before.  
  
"How...?"  
  
He bent to whisper in her ear, his hand seeking out her elbow at the same time. "Magic." With that her drew her into the centre of the room.  
  
"Dance with me?"  
  
Dismissing her concerns over their dinner reservations, she leaned into his embrace, only one question on her lips. "But... what... to? There's... there's no..."  
  
"Music?" he supplied. "Magic... again." They shared a small smile before he chanted several words softly. The stereo behind her sprang to life, sensual tones produced from the speakers.  
  
"Wow," Buffy breathed, awed.  
  
"Well... not so much..." Giles grinned, "Actually I had the remote in my pocket."  
  
Buffy grinned too, swaying against him in time to the music. She looked up at him as he joined her, their bodies flowing in synchronization. "I like this song."  
  
"Shhh," he admonished, bringing a finger up to press gently against her lips. "Listen. This is my heart."  
  
Silenced by his beautiful words, she could only cling more tightly to him, burying her face in his jacket as the lyrics finally began.  
  
~~We got it together, didn't we  
  
Nobody but you and me  
  
We got it together, baby  
  
My first, my last, my everything  
  
And the answer to all my dreams  
  
You're my sun, my moon, my guiding star  
  
My kind of wonderful, that's what you are  
  
I know there's only, only one like you  
  
There's no way they could have made two  
  
You're, you're all I'm living for  
  
Your love I'll keep for evermore,  
  
You're the first, my last, my everything  
  
In you I've found so many things  
  
A love so new only you could bring  
  
Can't you see if you,  
  
You'll make me feel this way  
  
You're like a first morning dew on a brand new day  
  
I see so many ways that I can love you  
  
'Til the day I die...  
  
You're my reality yet I'm lost in a dream  
  
You're the first, my last, my everything~~  
  
As Barry White paused in his singing to give the instrumentalists a chance to show off, Giles lifted Buffy's tearstained face to his, a loving smile lighting up his entire face as he spoke.  
  
"You're my everything, Buffy. My first, my last... my *everything*. I don't ever want to be without you again. I want you to be my sun and moon forevermore. There may be many Slayers, but there will only ever be one you. And I want to spend the rest of my days *with* you." As he spoke, he subtly moved them to the rug. Feeling the change of texture beneath his feet, he knelt before her, removing the other object he'd hidden in his pocket to present to her. "Marry me, Buffy."  
  
Fresh tears of happiness cascaded over the former Slayer's cheeks. "Yes, Giles. You *know* I'll marry you. 'Cause you're *my* everything, too. I love you," she added in a hoarse whisper as her fiancé slid the solitaire diamond ring onto her slim finger.  
  
"I love you, too, Buffy," he whispered in return, before standing and gathering her to him once more, capturing her lips in a sweet, promise- filled kiss. And in the background, Barry resumed singing, his words a re- iteration of the vow the couple had just made.  
  
~~I know there's only, only one like you  
  
There's no way they could have made two  
  
Girl you're my reality  
  
But I'm lost in a dream  
  
You're the first you're the last my everything~~  
  
FIN 


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